Following another steep sell-off Thursday, stocks appeared calmer — for now — and posted strong gains Friday.

The Dow was up 650 points, or 1.64%, in afternoon trading. The S&P 500 rose 1.7% and the Nasdaq was 1.9% higher. Markets were buoyed by Boston Fed President Susan Collins telling the Financial Times Friday that the Fed would step in to support financial markets if there were signs of distress.

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In the 129-year history of the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the index has closed higher or lower by at least 1,000 points just 31 times. Four of those times happened in the past week.

Meanwhile, gold prices surged above a record high $3,200 a troy ounce on Friday. Gold is up more than 21% this year and just posted its best quarter since 1986. The yellow metal is considered a safe haven amid economic and political uncertainty.